


Friend like me

by redjlafitte



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Auror Draco Malfoy, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Not Beta Read, Poor Draco, Unspeakable Hermione Granger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:35:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28403346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redjlafitte/pseuds/redjlafitte
Summary: “Granger, I need your help. I’m going crazy”“Well thats a shame Malfoy. Were you hoping for a referral to st mongos? ” Hermione questioned, only halfway joking.  Honestly seeing as she’d never seen him anything less than perfectly put together and he currently had coffee stains on his button down and robes done up wrong, it probably wasn’t a terrible idea.“Oh thank Merlin, you’re still you “ Draco left out a relieved breath before his next sentence came out in a rush.“I am pretty sure I’m in an alternate timeline.”
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

Hermione watched curiously as Draco Malfoy walked quickly into her office, slammed the door with a lot more force than strictly necessary and started throwing up privacy ward after privacy ward. She was vaguely aware that she should probably object. But he looked pretty harried, and Malfoy may not be her friend but she didn’t really consider him her enemy either. 

He had given her a sincere apology at the end of the war and while she had tried to continue seeing him as an enemy it didn’t really stick. He was to fundamentally different. So she had figured he was an ass, but not a racist one anymore. They didn’t really interact all that much. He made a lot of charitable donations to worthy causes (which she assumes is he default way of apologizing) and she would occasionally see him at a ministry ball or charitable function. Usually they exchanged sarcastic quips and mostly good natured barbs to break up the monotony of mingling with the press and “adoring” public.

Draco finally finished with his wards and sunk into the guest chair, looking absolutely disheveled. He wore expensive robes but they looked wrinkled and thrown on and his hair sat in messy waves along his head, as if he had been regularly running his fingers through it. Hermione watched him in mild interest. 

Malfoy was technically acting as a permanent informant for the Auror department so he probably fell within her purview as unspeakable liaison to the juror department. 

“Granger, I need your help. I’m going crazy” 

“Well thats a shame Malfoy. Were you hoping for a referral to st mongos? ” Hermione questioned, only halfway joking. Honestly seeing as she’d never seen him anything less than perfectly put together before now and he currently had coffee stains on his shirt and his robes done up wrong it probably wasn’t a terrible idea. 

“Oh thank Merlin, you’re still you “ Draco left out a relieved breath before his next sentence came out in a rush.

“I am pretty sure I’m in an alternate timeline.”

Hermione jolted alarmed. That. Something like that could be very bad. Disastrous even.  
He looked serious. 

Cautiously she leaned forward, “Malfoy thats not something to joke about. Messing with time is a very serious business”

He sighed, running his hands through his hair and frowning as he thought over his words. 

“Not messing with time, an entirely different timeline. As in I went to sleep in my flat after a bloody horrid shift. Finnegan and I had been chasing some imbecile who had been selling exotic and very illegal potions ingredients. I ended up falling into one of the work stations. Couldn’t get the damn smell off but at least it was bad enough it got me out of writing my report. I woke up in Malfoy Manor. No flat. No report. No bloody awful potion ingredients”

“What were the ingredients”. 

“ I don’t know granger? Does it matter? Mostly parts of magical animal parts from various places in the middle east? We caught a buyer mid transaction and he spilled some of the ingredients, you were the one who was analyzing them.” 

“Me?”

“Yeah, you kept bitching about the DMLE treating you like a forensics teams?”

“Thats because the DMLE is idiotic and seems to think that anything past simple spell investigation somehow falls within the unspeakable category. I mean how hard could DNA sequencing really be, we have spells for it! Simple spells!”

“Yes yes, I’m aware. ‘Its not even science anymore, four simple syllables. Why isn’t this standard practice’”. 

“oh. “ Hermione sat back slightly flummoxed. “well. yes. exactly. huh. You know Finnegan doesn’t even work for the dmle”. 

“Yes, I’m aware. figured that out when I went into the office and bloody Potter told me to take a hike. Apparently I’m a part time liaison? Hence alternate timeline. “

“Is it possible you’ve been confounded? Slipped a befuddlement draft? Obliviated maybe? We could probably run a few diagnostics to see but “

Draco cut her off with a huff . “Granger. I’m telling you, this isn’t just a few things. It’s a ton of things. Where I live. Where I work. Who I associate with. And not just that, it’s other people too. Everyone is married to different people, doing different things. Nothing is the same. I’ve spent the last three days trying to figure it out. I’ve done the diagnostics, taken a clarity potion, and even skimmed every fucking daily prophet from the last year. You are the only person whose even working the same job.“

Hermione stared for a few more minutes before snapping into action beginning to cast every mind diagnostic spell she knew, which was quite a few. 

Draco rolled his eyes as every result came out exactly as it should. And he apparently knew her rant on DNA cataloguing well enough to quote. 

“well. Shite. “ Hermione sat back completely flummoxed.

“Precisely”


	2. Chapter 2:

————

Hermione immediately started pulling books from her shelves while occasionally jotting down notes. 

“Okay. Different timeline is a possibility. Possibly a magical artifact? Premonitions maybe? Clearly not a cunfundus but maybe an unknown spell. “ She was rambling mostly to herself before looking up at Draco

“What was the date when you left?” 

“10th June, 2002. I went to sleep the night of the 9th. It was the first thing I checked”

“well. Not time travel then. Okay. I need to know all of the differences.” 

“Really Granger. Everything? How would you even propose we do that”

“Oh you're right, this could be something different in history or in your life , or. oh. The butterfly effect. If we are dealing with something like that it could be nearly impossible to…how are we going to account for the ….”

Malfoy groaned to himself as the woman in front of him started rambling. She may be the first person he had thought of to go to for help, but that didn’t make her tendencies any less annoying. “ 

“As fascinating as it is to watch you talk to yourself about butterflies could we get back on subject”

“Not butterflies Malfoy. The butterfly effect. It’s the idea that little differences can create catastrophic changes. The flapping of the butterflies wings in one part of the world could cause a tsunami in another”

“Wouldn’t that be more for time travel than alternate timelines? How about the multiverse theories? 

“Oh, that is true. There are a ton of theories related to multiverse, time travels causing alternate realities, not to mention things like the Mandela effect. “

Malfoy slumped a little more and Hermione could relate. This while fascinating did seem to be rather overwhelming. 

“data. We just need more data to start narrowing things down. “

Malfoy shot her a skeptical look opened his mouth before he shut it again, apparently thinking better of what he was about to say. 

“This isn’t bad. We will start with basic things. History, some spells, general information. If that doesn’t turn up anything we will start with more frequent and personal history. The broad events of the first war, childhoods we would both have information on. Assuming that still hasn’t given us any differences we can start moving forward. Events, conversations, timelines from our school years. Between the two of us we should be able to tell if any of our interactions or interactions we were present for were different. “

“Sounds exhausting.” Malfoy said, only half heartedly. He may think that Grangers habit of taking on pet projects to an obsessive degree was immature but for once he was glad for it. He’d really like to be back in his own world. 

“I keep a French press in my office”

“A what?”

“Well, guess that hasn’t changed” Hermione said with some humor. She never could understand how clueless purebloods could be about some of the best muggle inventions, especially ones that spells couldn’t replicate. No creating coffee from nothing via spell, but a quick French press and an Augamenti and she didn’t need to leave her office for the nectar of the Gods. 

She smiled feeling the kind of good cheer that comes from having an interesting intellectual puzzle to work on. She could get to the bottom of this. 

She couldn’t help but frown. After hours of discussion she had lost most of that cheer. History was the same. Random laws, spells, facts all checked out so far as they could tell. It seemed as if the first war was same between both worlds as well, the few things they differed on could easily be their different sources. 

“Well how about the trial of…”

“Granger. Stop. We’ve been over every bloody thing I can remember from the first war. Can we move on”. 

“Well. I suppose the next step would be our school years? “

Hermione grabbed her French press pouring herself another cup. 

“I truly can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me. Decent coffee at your desk and never a word to me”. 

Hermione grinned half heartedly. Going over her school days didn’t seem like a pleasant prospect, especially with her childhood bully. Not to mention rehashing the war and a lot of the less than pleasant experiences with that. 

“So lets start with meeting Harry?”

“Why would we start with that? “ Draco asked not following her logic. 

“It’s simple really. I have enough second hand knowledge we should be able to match up things that happened not just when I was around but events I am aware of. If we can figure out when things started to diverge. We will go over everything memorable we can think of during those years. Big events, but also stupid stuff like school wide pranks the Weasley twins might have pulled. And teachers”  
Draco agreed begrudgingly and they started combing through their first few years. They realized pretty quickly that this might be harder than expected. 

“So the troll attacking me didn’t happen in your timeline?”

“You’re telling me it actually attacked you. Not like, you were near it, but you were attacked by a mountain troll. And defended by weaselly and scar head. At eleven?” 

“Well I was twelve, but yes. So are we saying this is the first official difference? “

Draco watched her nonchalance with a little bit of concern before sighing. 

“I’m not sure. It was definitely in the rumor mill but it seemed pretty far fetched and none of you lot were in the infirmary so I had thought it wasn’t true. “ 

“Right, well I’ll just mark it in the possible column then”. 

It didn’t take him very long to figure out that there were quite a few things that might have happened that neither could confirm. 

Draco watched the woman in front of him with growing dread each time she casually mentioned something he had previously brushed off as an outlandish rumor. Her school years had not been fair. By the time they had made it to third year he was feeling rather sick about it all. 

“ A time turner?”

“Well, yes. Did I take all of the classes as far as you were aware?”

“yes. But Granger. A time-turner is a restricted access device for good reason. Just disregarding any time travel issues, grown wizards have lost their minds using time devices. “

“I’m an unspeakable Malfoy, I’m aware. It was definitely sketchy and non ministry approved. “

“I. I don’t think you are aware. With your upbringing I don’t think you can be”

Hermione's back stiffened “and just what is that supposed to mean Malfoy”. 

“shit. No not like that Granger. I just mean. Fuck. Listen. Time tuners are one of those things you have drilled into your head never to even look at growing up, even though they are heavily regulated and most could never come across one. It’s a thing. Every wizarding child knows to never touch an hour glass. Most of us had elaborate plans on how to survive if we ever accidentally ended up around a time tuner. “ 

Hermione's eyes lit up with understanding “ like quicksand !”

“Quicksand? “

“yes. quicksand. If you were to ask a muggle child, even one raised in a city, what to do if they ever fell in quicksand they could probably tell you. Even though it’s a non issue for basically everyone. No one ever actually encounters quick sand, but It’s a part of cultural understanding”

“Sure. I guess. 

“Sorry off topic, I just found it fascinating most wizards had never even heard of quicksand. “

“Okay. So like quicksand. It’s something that is so drilled into us that even as an adult most wizards instinctually shy away from ever being in the presence of a time turner. But you are telling me Dumbledore gave you a time tuner. As a fourteen year old. Thats basically child abuse”

Hermione huffed about his condescending tone as they continue conversing. 

Draco was staring at the woman in front of him warring between awe and absolute horror. Hearing the events at Hogwarts and the war from her perspective was jarring. Watching her describe what she remembered of her actual torture, knowing she was reliving something like that made him feel a little ill. Watching it had been one of the worst moments of his life. Hearing her describe it in detail, knowing that she had been half starved and dealing with the weight of the wizarding world mostly on her own? Not an enjoyable experience. 

Hermione continued on to the final battle as if recounting details of bleeding out on his childhood floor hadn’t nearly drove Draco to vomit. 

It was another hour before Draco had hit his limit. 

“Okay I’m calling it. “

Hermione looked up at him perplexed. “We can’t give up Malfoy! There is an explanation, and I’m sure we are close. We’ve already ruled out or potentially ruled out a whole slew of theories!”

“I’m not giving up. I’m calling it because we worked through lunch. And dinner. It’s past 10pm. My back is sore from sitting in your horrible chairs. I’m tired. And I’m pretty sure we are both emotionally exhausted”. 

“well. “ Hermione bit her lip, glancing down at her notes and back at him before sighing in defeat. Her back popped as she shifted in her seat only highlighting his point for him. 

“I suppose this is a good a stopping point as any. Will you be heading back to the Manor? “

“I checked into a hotel the day I woke up here, I wasn’t really keen on staying in the manor. “

Hermione sighed, realizing now that they had stopped discussing things she was rather worn out. Going over the events at Malfoy manor had been rather painful, and Malfoy had gotten incredibly pale when they had begun discussing it. In fact he still looked a little shaky and lacking in color. 

“okay. Well today likely won’t draw any suspicion but I don’t think you can come back tomorrow. We could probably come up with some sort of a story but I’m pretty sure we don’t want anyone to even ask questions. “

“Just what do you propose then Granger? “

“Well it’s obvious, we’ll have to meet somewhere else. After work. I have pretty flexible hours I need to be in my office, and any time travel issues its standard practice not to turn in reports until the discrepancy is fixed. 

“So we what, meet up in a restaurant and get seen in public together?”

“Not at all, I think we need more privacy. So. My place or yours “

Draco nearly swallowed his tongue. He coughed a minute, realizing with horror he could feel his cheeks filling with blood. 

Hermione watched him with confusions momentarily until what she said clicked in her head. 

“Oh Honestly Malfoy, grow up “

Draco chuckled slightly to himself before letting out a devilish smirk 

“If you wanted me to do grown up things with you Granger, all you had to do was ask. 

Hermione let out a long suffering sigh. Once it was clear she intended on helping him Malfoy had relaxed and lost some of his manic edge. She was beginning to wonder if he wouldn’t be easier to deal with if he was half panicking again. 

“So. Meet tomorrow at my place then? Say one? I’ll show my face, and use my morning to study any possible avenues of literature and we can continue discussing possible timeline difference after. “

“Sounds good granger” 

“okay. Good. I’ll key the wards”

“Until tomorrow then”


	3. Chapter 3

Draco floo’d into Grangers place the next afternoon. She greeted him with inattentive hello, still pouring over a large tome. She was barefoot and in unbuttoned robes she had clearly been wearing at work this morning. Her shoes were neatly lined near the front door. 

Her place looked basically like he thought it would. Cleaner than he might have imagined. He had expected used saucers and cups, perhaps discarded clothing or robes she hadn’t bothered to pick up, and notes and parchment everywhere. Instead the room was neatly organized, with the only exception being that every surface seemed to be crammed with books. 

Draco glanced at her before shaking his head and heading towards her kitchen “I’m putting your kettle on, I need tea”. 

Hermione let out a distracted hmm. “ Tea’s in the cupboard on the right” Hermione said, barely glancing in his direction. 

He was done brewing the tea and had been bringing back the tray with some biscuits when Hermione slammed down her book in a huff. 

She finally glanced up at Malfoy. He was back to his immaculate robes and hair. He looked tall in her small space, his blonde hair styled today and a smirk of amusement on his face as he took in her siting room. 

“You may not have heard but they actually make shelves specifically for books, so you don’t have to pile them on every flat surface”

“Funny Malfoy.”

His smirk turned into a grin “I am aren’t I” 

Hermione huffed but decided to drop it reaching for a cuppa. After a sip to center herself she looked up as he neatly arranged himself in her arm chair. 

“I’ve found a few possibilities but the more I look into this the less it makes sense. I’m hoping today something will pop up with differences because so far everything is so similar that we are back to you somehow time traveling yet showing up back at the original time, and retaining memories of a previous timeline . “ 

“I would think I remembered if I time traveled and messed something up so bad that Weasley ended up an Auror. “

“What’s wrong with Ron being an Auror?” Hermione asked defensively. 

“You mean other than him being a general imbecile, did he even pass his NEWTS? Or the Auror psychological exam?”

“Well, no. But really he got it waived by the Kinglsey”

“Yes,” Malfoy sneered. “But why. How does that make sense. Potter? Sure, I suppose he’s got practical experience, but Weasley? “

“I. Well really Malfoy. He’s a perfectly respectable auoror. You just don’t like him”

“true. I think he’s a pathetic, explosive imbecile “

Hermione cut him off with an upset tone “that’s my boyfriend your talking about”

“sure. Thats another thing. Weasley, really? “ Malfoy drawled in disgust. 

“We aren’t here to discuss my love life.”

Malfoy scoffed “ Granger you passed your newts, the exams for the unspeakable, and work as a liaison for the Auror corps while presumably getting at least one mastery correct”

“Yes, in Arithmancy and I’m working on one in runes. “ Hermione stated proudly.  
“exactly. Tell me. How did you keep a boyfriend during that. How do you have time to even sleep. “

“Well I managed just fine Malfoy thanks for the concern”

“When was the last time you even saw the red headed oaf?”

“I.I. “ Hermione paused, the fight draining from as realization hit. “I don’t know. “

“My point Granger, “

“Malfoy shut up and let me think.” She said, her face scrunching up in concentration before grabbing a quiz and beginning to scratch down notes. 

Draco tapped his foot impatiently. Once he had his course of action, namely getting Granger involved, and she had agreed the stress of the situation had eased a bit. He was still frustrated and confused and rather unhappy with his current predicament but at least he wasn’t alone feeling like he was losing it. But he’d really like to get on with it, not watch Granger have a breakdown over her ill thought out love life. 

“Could we perhaps…”

“Shhh”

“Granger I…”

“Hush”

“Really Granger” 

“Malfoy. Zip it. “ 

“Granger…

Granger.

Pst.

Granger will you just stop. I would rather discuss something other than your relationship woes”

She dropped her quill and glanced up at him scowling. 

“fine. We’ll go over that later.” 

“Thank you. So. End of war, yes?”

“Yes. Everything seems to be tracking fine up until Voldemort's defeat”

He flinched automatically at the name, before continuing with the conversation. 

An hour in they hit their first conclusive difference. Malfoy was shocked.

“How in the world would my father not be sentenced to Azkaban. “

“He defected during the last battle and was pardoned, he spends most his time in France now “  
“That explains why he wasn’t at the Manor, I just don’t understand. What was his defense? “ 

“Well he turned during the last battle so he got a pardon, and then turned in evidence on a lot of other death eaters”

“I hear what you are telling me Granger, I’m asking how. “

“How should I know Malfoy, I thought it was despicable but we’ve proven that the ministry can be rather corrupt” 

“ Is it? Why do you work there then? ”

“Things got better after the war”

“Did they? Before or after my father, who was a known terrorist, convicted and sentenced to Azkaban for attacking teenagers in the Ministry atrium, somehow got pardoned.”

“That. Oh dear. I was outraged at the verdict but the logic of it didn’t even occur to me. How odd.”

“So our first confirmed difference. Shall we go over who else somehow escaped justice?”

Their conversation continued along that vein with little else cropping up as different, something that began to frustrate both of them. 

“This just doesn’t make sense. Clearly whatever change happened seems to have centered at least partly around my family, but it doesn’t really make sense that even without him turning on other death eaters everything stayed the same. At the least there should be some sentencing differences or someone else coming forward as witness”

Malfoy sighed, running his hands through his hair. Hermione watched him ruin his previously well styled hair wondering if it was a recent habit he had picked up or if she had just never seen him frustrated before. 

“Perhaps we should table that for now and look at personal differences. You say people are married differently? “

“yes. Apparently I’m betrothed to Astoria Greengrass. Greengrass of all people”

“Were you not before? “

“Of course not. The Greengrass sisters moved to America. And I would never agree to a traditional betrothal contract with a woman I don’t even know, especially so soon after Hogwarts. “ 

“Would you have if your father was still influential in your life? “

“I don’t know Granger. I can’t wrap my head around that being a possibility. I suppose if he threatened to cut me off, but I’m the head of house in my timeline and have been since seventeen. “

“huh. Was I dating anyone? Were you? “

“From what I recall you hadn’t dated since Hogwarts. And I’d had a casual relationship here or there but no, I wouldn’t call it dating”

“okay. Well who else was different?”

“Longbottom. Your red headed idiot. Looney. Potter” 

“Harry? He didn’t marry Ginny? ”

“He hadn’t married anyone, last I heard he was mooning over some bloke”

“ A bloke? ”

“Yes. It was a huge scandal when he came out, which was rather silly really as its not really that unheard of even in pureblood circles”. 

Hermione looked at Malfoy with shock and a rather concerning thought. Harry had never come out of the closet. But. But as a teen it had become clear rather early on that he may be less than straight. His antagonism of Malfoy had definitely taken on some undercurrents that indicated an unrequited crush. Harry also watched Diggory and Cho in a way that had made her suspect it wasn’t Diggory he was jealous of. She remembered dropping encouraging hints about her being non-judgmental and the normalcy of homosexual relationships within the Wizarding world. That she was ready to support him whoever he loved. 

Slowly Hermione swallowed “Which bloke?”

“One of the Weasley gaggle”

“That… Thats sort of concerning. Which one? “

“I don’t know, the dragon one I think. How is that concerning. “ 

“When did harry come out? “

“Right after the war? Within a few days if I recall, my mother was scandalized that they had taken a break on important news to do a whole spread on it”

“This is a rather worrying development. How about Ginny, was she dating?“

“I don’t know, no one serious as far as I knew? She was on a quidditch team. I really didn’t pay attention to people I had no interest in. 

“And you are sure Harry was Gay? “

“How, exactly is potters sexual orientation at all relevant to the timeline issue”. 

“Because Malfoy, up until now I had assumed that this timeline issue was centered mostly around you or your family. With your father incarcerated, or you dating someone different its possible that it could change a lot. Say you go on a date with Pansy, who doesn’t go on a date with Knott. So Knott dates some Ravenclaw, whose ex boyfriend then goes after Ginny, who doesn’t date Harry. So on and so forth. It could be enough to really jumble up all sorts of couples. 

“So how does this change anything?”

“Because Harry and Ginny got together immediately following the final battle. Say in your timeline something in your life changed things it’s possible they could split up and end up dating other people. But for Harry to come out, which makes total sense by the way, something had to have directly impacted Harry himself very quickly. So it’s possible this timeline divergence isn’t focused on you. or is earlier and we missed it 

Hermione bit her lip in concern. This was not what she had expected. After yesterdays discussion she had mostly narrowed things down to timeline changes surrounding Malfoy. With history seeming the same and only Malfoy remembering the differences it made sense he had somehow hit a divergence in timelines that focused on his life. Something he had done differently or something that had caused him to hit a timeline divergence. But. This was an immediate departure from the timeline that couldn’t be as easily explained away or tied back to Malfoy. 

“We need to go through the days after the Battle of Hogwarts as closely as possible. Start writing anything and everything down you remember. We know thats where things changed, but for it to be a fairly prominent change that quickly we might be dealing with something big. 

Hours later Draco floo’ed back to his hotel room and flopped on the bed. Another day and they were no closer to figuring anything out. 

The changes started immediately after the battle of Hogwarts and didn’t seem to connect at all. Potter being gay. Potter and Weasley both immediately getting in to Auror training. His father getting pardoned. Him not joining the Auror division. Granger not visiting Australia. The things that stayed the same were also frustrating. Granger and he had taken the NEWTS gotten the exact scores as before. Barring his father everyone received the same sentencing, even in the same order as they could tell. The rebuilding of Hogwarts and handling of the lost seventh years seemed identical. 

He groaned into the pillow recalling grangers frown becoming more pronounced as they continued discussing things. Draco knew that he was a capable investigator and excellent duelist. He was also very smart, but not Granger smart. She was the best researcher he could think of and his only real hope here. 

Finally he slammed his eyes shut, maybe tomorrow would get better.


	4. Chapter 4

Three days passed with him mostly hiding from the world, and the very few responsibilities he had. Going through timelines proved to be less than helpful. As had most every book they had read. 

While Draco was frustrated with the lack of conclusive results, the time wasn’t miserable. Grangers witty retorts tended towards amusing, and they actually worked rather well together once they got in the swing of things. She was organized, scarily organized. Every book was filed, with lists of titles that they didn’t have which might help. Her notes were detailed, and blotted with cross references. Their research styles meshed well, and they could orbit one another without being a disturbance. 

Draco glanced back at Granger as she sunk further into research mode. Today she had changed out of her ministry clothes before he had arrived, into a pair of worn denims and a threadbare t-shirt which hung off her shoulder. Her hair was a mess of untamed curls, sloppily held in a bun with no less than three quills. She was sitting on the sofa cross legged and bare foot, a book in her lap, notes to her right and another book she was cross referencing to her left. Malfoy himself was leaning back against the sofa, stretching out his legs with their timeline notes in hand, trying not to stare at the slur scarring her arm. 

He should apologize, if not for his aunt then for introducing her to that word. But he wasn’t sure how to bring it up without it seeming like he cared about that nonsense anymore, or like he was pitying her. He wasn’t. As Draco opened his mouth determined to say, well something her fireplace flashed green. 

He tensed, snapping his mouth shut and readying himself. Years as an Auror had trained him to be wary of his surroundings. 

Hermione glanced at the fireplace, and then him before Potter stumbled into her sitting room. 

It took Potter a second to register Dracos presence before he had hastily pulled his wand, flinging a disarming spell. 

Draco was on his feet , stance aggressive and wand drawn ready to counter before the expelliarmus was carelessly batted away by Granger. 

“Stop right now. The both of you.” She enunciated each word as if daring them to ignore her. “ If either of you even think of throwing another spell in my home I will personally grind both your wands into powder and serve them to you in your morning porridge.“

“Mione love, What is he doing here. I don’t see you all week only to find Malfoy in your living room. What is going on? Has he hurt you?” 

“Come off it potter, we both know Granger would have me on my ass before a spell ever reached her”

Potters wand hand twitched. 

“enough. Wands down. “ 

“Don’t want to deal with the mess Granger? I do recall there being quite a bit of blood last time Potter cursed me”

Potter grimaced at the reference, causing Draco’s smirk to grow. 

The growl that came from Granger was enough to convince both men to lower their wands. 

“Right then. What is it that you needed Harry? As much as I love seeing you we are in the middle of something” 

“In the middle of what” potter asked accusingly. 

“research of course. I do have a job Harry”

“Thats why I came! You’ve been acting off and I’m worried. You’ve been going home early every day. You are avoiding Ron. You forgot about Ginnys birthday !”

“I did nothing of the sort, I sent her a scarf. I have a research project I’m working on , Malfoy has been kind enough to lend me a hand. 

“Really Hermione, Malfoy? “

“He was the best qualified”

“What’s this research about? Why didn’t you ask for my help?” 

Before he could throw out snark Granger had begun to answer, subtly casting a spell as she did so. Looking down he realized the books surrounding them, and the notes in his hands had all changed. 

“You think you could help me research French household artifacts from the 14th century and the use of non standard rune arrays in their creation? “ she asked dubiously. 

“Are you telling Malfoy can?” 

“I’ll have you know my family has a serving platter from Jehenne de Brigue that will kill anyone from the Ruilly bloodline who eats off of it due to a family targeting rune interlayed over the poison. “ Draco interjected with feigned haughtiness. 

Hermiones eyes lit with actual interest as Potter looked between them in dismay as she began to speak excitedly 

“Oh, you hadn’t mentioned! Could you bring it, I’d love to see how the rune matrix was constructed on that versus the ladles that target only blood purity”

“Hermione, please, you’ve been rushing out of the office early all week” Potter pleaded. 

“Did you not get my memo on updated office hours? French utensils popped up recently that are missing entire components previously thought to be necessary for magic to stay imbued in them. It’s really a huge breakthrough, and time sensitive! The artifacts are in a traveling museum exhibit and I’ve really only got the next two weeks to work on it before they are no longer around to study”

“oh. Okay. I understand. I was just worried about you”. 

Granger let out a soft exhale 

“I’m sorry for worrying you. Perhaps a break would do us good. Tea? “

“Yes! Please tell me you have some Lamingtons, I’ve been craving them “

Hermione giggled. “I’m sure I’ve got some somewhere, let me go grab the kettle” 

Potter perked up and Draco let out a long suffering sigh before settling into the chair he had claimed as his own. 

The tea began rather awkwardly until quidditch was brought up. Which led to a debate on the current league statistics and a good fifteen minute discussion on the most likely result of the weekends game. 

“Could we please please talk about something other than quidditch? 

“But Granger it is bloody madness is what it is, the Cannons hitting the top of the league last year? They have the same lineup and they are exactly where they were expected to be , dead last this year. I’m telling you someone was paid off”

“Mione he’s absolutely right. It’s what I’ve been saying, there’s no way that they could have hit the top of the league without someone fixing the matches. “

“Exactly ! Someone is messing with the sanctity of the game”. 

“I regret ever hoping you two could get along. “ 

“You know what they say Granger, be careful what you wish for” Draco snarked, fully enjoying her put upon pout. 

Potter excused himself after a tea that was surprisingly pleasant while Granger watched Harry with a strange expression on her face. Now the he thought of it she’d had that expression on her face for the last half of tea as well. 

“Alright there Granger? “

“Hmmmn? Oh. Yes. Yes fine. “

“Are you sure? You seem a bit, distracted”

“I suppose. What did you say that Harry did again, before this?”

“DADA instructor at Hogwarts. It was his second year I believe? He took off on a world tour or something of that sort right after the Dark Lord fell. “

All he got was a hmmmm in response before she turned back to their disguised research materials. 

It was another minute before she shook her head as if cleaning cobwebs and reverted their notes. 

“So, 14th century French artifacts ? “

“oh. Well yes, there is actually an exhibit in town. That’s what I’ve been working on in the mornings, I don’t actually have any cases from the DMLE right now and it seemed a worthy research avenue. I had mostly finished my research, and it sounded dry enough to get Harry to drop it”

They sat in silence before Hermione shyly glanced at him again. 

“Do you actually have that Brigue serving platter?” 

Draco barked out a laugh. “I do. I can bring you the Jehenes grimoire, her mother was a Malfoy. "

Her smile was bright and sincere. He couldn’t help but smile back.


	5. Chapter 5

Dracos Saturday was not going well. 

He had spent most of the morning making an appearance at the Malfoy Manor, it was unavoidable. His mother had sent several owls, though him swanning off to live out of a hotel hadn’t even gotten a raised eyebrow from her. So he had made his appearance at brunch, hoping he could make it in and out quickly with the grimoire he had promised Granger and a promise to come back next week for longer. 

That had not happened. 

First his mother fussed over him, concerned that he was alone and on a bender or something. After reassuring her multiple times he was just enjoying a different atmosphere she started in on the courtship stuff. 

“Draco dear I’ve been understanding about you taking some time to yourself, heaven knows this place holds some bad memories. I’m just worried for you. I know you aren’t happy with the courtship but it has to happen. We need to plan the wedding, and you need to start having regular outings with young Astoria”

“Mother, I just have no interest in meeting with Greengrass or presenting her with any courtship presents. I don’t even understand why you’re pushing for this so hard. 

“My Dragon. You know all I want is for you to be happy, thats all a mother ever wants. “

The subtle manipulations and guilt trips continued throughout the brunch, while Draco sat with growing horror listening about his life. How had his mother ended up stuck at Malfoy Manor, a place she hadn’t loved even before the madman had tainted the rooms. 

After a few hours of uncomfortable tea and a growing resolve to get the hell out of this timeline he floo’ed over to Grangers only for her not to be around. 

At first he figured she’d just popped out for carry out or to run a quick errand. But as one hour turned into two and he raided her cupboards for a bit of lunch his growing resentment and frustration with the situation grew. 

Three hours later she arrived dressed in what was clearly date clothes, tight muggle jeans paired with high heeled boots. A t-shirt so thin he could clearly see the outline of her brasier through it. Her face was done up with makeup or charms, and her hair was tamed into soft waves. 

How dare she go off on a date while he was relying on her to keep from, I don’t know , accidentally destroying a universe or something. Or being stuck in a world where his mother was wasting away in a haunted manor and he was stuck marrying some little girl who would resent him for the rest of their lives. 

“Having a nice jot around the town while I perhaps irreparably damage this timeline or get stuck? “ he hurled the accusation before she had a chance too clear of the ash from her legs. 

“What? Of course not, why would …“

He cut her off, not willing to hear her paltry excuses.

“Oh, so you weren’t out with that ginger oaf of yours while I sat here trying to fix this”

“It’s not like that! I was …“

“Spare me the platitudes Granger. I thought you had a little more dedication to your job”

“Do not question my dedication Malfoy.” She spat out. That was what he was looking for, she was rising to his bait.

“Not your dedication? What, your intelligence then? Am I backing the wrong Abraxan in this race?“

“You think I’m still such an insecure little girl that questioning my intelligence will get you somewhere?

“Do enlighten me then oh intelligent and secure Granger, why are you dressed like a common trollop? Is this how you go to the grocers?”

“Watch your tone Malfoy, while I may have been out with Ron, I can assure you that I am not slacking on my duties.“

“ I am only calling it how I see it Granger. Had to go get a bit of a lay ? Couldn’t stay concentrated so had to pop out for a quick shag? “

“You complete and utter prat, I’ll have you know I was out….”

“Fucking around while my entire world is in danger. Yes I know. Perhaps I should have found someone to help me who doesn’t spend her Saturdays like a slag.”

Magic crackled from her hair, which had quickly moved from smooth waves to sentient wild array of curls. For a moment she looked like she was It was at the look of complete disgust on her face that Draco realized in his spoil for a fight and absolute frustration for her he may have went a bit far. He immediately thought of a way to backtrack but she simply clenched her fist, stormed down a hall and slammed a door. 

She didn’t come back out. He had made a right cock up of that argument. He knew he was being irrational but he was angry and frustrated, and something about seeing her all dolled up had gotten under his skin. So he had lashed out trying to start a fight. It hadn’t served to let out any of his frustrations, only added to them. 

After two very unproductive hours Draco sighed, giving up. He was frustrated, distracted, and had spent half of his time staring down the hall trying to decide what to do. Eventually Draco left his hard won grimoire on the table, hoping it may work as a peace offering, and went back to his hotel. 

Hermione was livid. That tosser. How dare he. She had honestly been excited to come home and see him. Her day had been, well weird. All Hermione had wanted to do all day was come home and curl up with some tea, maybe have a debate with Malfoy about the nature of creature magic or the comparison of Latin based European magic to the baltic or african alternatives. 

Her morning had started out really well. She had spent the morning indulging in a bit of self care. A long bath, followed by an hour taming her hair and casting some subtle beauty charms she didn’t usually bother with. It had been a long week and she had enjoyed the feeling of doing something for herself. It made her feel confident. Which she would apparently need as she had already received two owls reminding her of the plans she had made today. She was off to meet Ron, Ginny and Harry for a double date. After doing her nails and throwing on a simple outfit she had decided on heeled boots, they made her feel ready to take on the world. 

That feeling had faded pretty quickly. First they had chosen a booth in the middle of the restaurant which had made her skin crawl. It wasn’t that often assignments took her out into the field but some of the training had stuck, or maybe it was a holdover from the war, and she didn’t like having unknown people at her back. It annoyed her how Harry and Ron were clearly ignoring the Auror best practices. She at least had an excuse, she wasn’t really a field agent. They should know better. 

Brunch proved Rons table manners hadn’t improved, and she felt oddly annoyed with him for simple things. Malfoy's snide remark about why she was even dating him kept popping up in her mind, and she was annoyed with herself for doubting her relationship over something that may or may not be true in an alternate universe. 

Hermione's feeling of off-kilterness persisted throughout the meal, and Ron seemed to be pushing her boundaries. He had a genuine look of confusion when she pushed away his wandering hands, as if there wasn’t a table with children literally ten feet away watching them. Or a corner table with someone she knew regularly freelance wrote for the daily prophet. Honestly she could barely concentrate on the conversation. Ginny was acting like Hermione had betrayed her by not taking the other girls birthday off work to spend at the spa. The Holyhead Harpies had planned it and didn’t mention it to her until two days beforehand, not enough time to request a day off. Harry was doing that thing where he pretended he was happy even though he wasn’t and Hermione knew she’d have to get him alone to talk to him. She shouldn’t have shoved him off earlier that week, even if she really had been busy with work. It had been too long since they had gone to muggle London to have some freedom from all the press. 

Hermione felt distracted and there was nothing she would rather do then just go back home. 

Something about this thing with Malfoy had been tingling her brain. When she was eight her school had let out early and she had been stuck in the reception area of her parents dental clinic bored, having finished her library book. She had ended up flipping through their magazine selection and seen a magazine article about an artist who used puzzles to make art. A lot of puzzles would have different pictures, but the same cut pattern so you could exchange pieces between them. Thats what she felt like. Putting together the information she could find wasn’t working. It was like the pieces were fitting together but the picture wasn’t coming out right because they were from different puzzles. 

Then to come home and Malfoy act like such a spoiled child, as if she hadn’t spent most of her time uncomfortable and fixated on his stupid problem. 

It wasn’t her fault he had somehow managed to get himself transported to a different timeline or alternate universe or something. 

She growled in frustration as she paced back and forth in her room. There was no way she was going out to her sitting room and dealing with this tonight. She’d just try reading a novel or something and give her brain a break.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione woke up the next morning, hair a frizzy mess and still wearing her clothes from the day before. Her frustration at Draco wasn’t as intense as yesterday, but she still felt wrung out. Her Hogwarts years had thrown crisis after crisis after her so she was accustomed to going into problem solving mode anytime anything dramatic happened. But this wasn’t school anymore, and she was older. Her early years at Hogwarts she had been naive, assuming she could tackle any problem so long as she tried hard enough. The later years, and especially her time on the run had been marked by a commitment to fix things, a desperation to survive. But she had been young, and hadn’t fully comprehended her own mortality. How easily things could have gone wrong. 

In this situation, things could go really really wrong. It wasn’t something that was in the forefront of her mind because she had been up until yesterday in crisis mode. She was focused on the situation at hand, and how to solve it. She had been doing exactly as she was supposed to. Research independently, try to confirm either time or dimension travel and bring as few people as possible into the loop due to the sensitivity of this type of magic. 

If she felt she wasn’t getting anywhere, there was a pressing possibility of disastrous change, or if she hadn’t at least narrowed down what type of magic this was within three weeks things changed. She had two more weeks before protocol t.d. 1512 came into effect and she needed to report this to higher ups. 

If that were to happen it became a real possibility that she could be taken off the case and have to present herself for voluntary obliviation. It was also possible under that same protocol unspeakables might simply vanish Malfoy into the depths of the department. They were on a time crunch, and had gotten nowhere. 

Before she realized it Hermione had made breakfast, sans magic, and was mindlessly chewing on toast as she yet again thought over the whole Malfoy ordeal. 

Malfoy arrived just as she had begun on her cup of coffee, and wordlessly sat at the table pouring himself a cup as well. He looked about as run down as she felt as he stared blearily into the dark concoction. 

After a minute of silence he finally spoke. 

“I’m sorry for my words Granger, I was out of line. “

“ You were. I understand you are upset but I’m not an emotional punching bag. Are we clear on that?”

“ Yes. I should not have cast such aspersions against you.” 

“As long as we are in agreement”. 

They lapsed into silence both focusing on their coffee. 

The silence had slipped from tense to something tired and calm. 

After pouring a second cup for herself and Malfoy Hermione finally looked up, deciding to break their silent contemplation. 

“So. How was your Saturday”

“Bloody awful. “ He laughed weakly " My mother is miserable at the Manor but for some reason insists on living there. She keeps trying to press my courtship into marriage. “

“Is your newfound reluctance going to be an issue? “

“Apparently not so newly found. I guess I’ve been against this courtship fiasco from the start, but begrudgingly going along with it”. 

“Thats something at least. Did your mother find you suspicious? I was worried that you might act different enough to start questioning you“

“Not in the least Granger. While I may be a mostly unemployed loner here, my attitude and thoughts aren’t all that different. I have no idea how I was convinced into the courtship or living at the Manor. Apparently my current opinions on both those things have been stated numerous times in the past. “ 

“Hopefully we will have a fix before too long. “

They sunk back into the previous silence for a moment before Malfoy cleared his throat. 

“How was yours?”

“Mine?”

“Your Saturday. “

Hermione glanced at him in surprise, and a bit of suspicion. 

“Are you just trying to be polite or are you actually asking”

“I’m actually asking Granger. “

“Oh.” She paused as she tried to figure out an answer " It was okay I suppose. The morning was relaxing and I took a bit of time to decompress. After that I went on a double date with Harry and Ginny, and Ron ”

“Was it nice seeing your friends?” Malfoy asked, seemingly sincere. 

“I suppose. I was distracted thinking about my research through a lot of it. “

“Sorry”

“Don’t be. Honestly the conversation was rather lacking, and I just wasn’t in the best of moods”

“I can relate “

They both drank through their second cup of coffee in introspective silence. Hermione was trying to create a timetable for the rest of her day and week. She needed to devote as much time as possible to this thing with Malfoy, which meant getting her other work done so she could devote herself to this kerfuffle. She usually spent Mondays ensuring nothing new ended up on her desk from the Aurors over the weekend, and then going through death records for the week. Any suspicious deaths passed through the Aurors but they were always behind on paperwork and rarely flagged things for the unspeakable as they should. She also needed to sit in on the DMLE’s weekly assignment distribution. As long as her luck held and there were no unsolved Murders or suspicious grievous bodily injuries she could probably continue her French artifact ruse. If she went through the death reports today she could probably take most of the day out of the office citing the museum exhibit. That excuse would hold, though the (mostly completed) report needed to be ready to hand over to her supervisor by Thursday at the latest”. 

Hermione savored the last sip from her mug, frowning slightly that the calm needed to be broken. 

She set to doing dishes by hand when Malfoy surprised her and began drying her plate and mugs, also without magic. 

“How would you like to go about the research today? I spent a lot of yesterday going through books and records but I’m not getting anywhere”

“It does sort of seem like we are just spinning our wheels. “

“I left that grimoire for you on your coffee table if you wanted to go over it”. 

She perked up immediately. 

“That would be wonderful. I have a bit of office work to do today. If I can use that Grimoire I can have my report done for that today, as well as go through the weekly death records. That way tomorrow I can spend two hours at work and the rest of the day here” 

Malfoys brow furrowed slightly before making a tentative offer. 

“I’ve been in charge of the death report before. I could probably do that for you while you finish the artifact report. It’s usually not too hard to flag and file, you have access here at home right?”

“Yes I do. “ she chewed on her lip thinking it over for a moment. “Yes, I suppose that could work. As long as your promise to bring up anything your unsure about up to me”

“I’ve been an Auror for awhile Granger, I know the drill. I was usually the one taking over the report for you, you know it really shouldn’t be your responsibility anyways”

“I don’t like getting behind, if I don’t do it I end up with weeks or even months worth of work landing on my desk in one day. Are you sure you can do it?” 

“Again. Fully capable Auror”

“Right of course. Sorry I forgot. “

She hesitantly pulled out the files he would need and set to work at her coffee table. The rest of the morning passed quickly. Within two hours she had poured over the grimoire in fascination, added the findings to her mostly completed artifact rune report, and finished a further areas of study suffix for her own use. For some reason only food based artifacts had been found with those specific rune matrix types, and she wasn’t quite sure why. She wished she had more time to follow that avenue of study but it needed to be set on the back burner for now.

“How is that filing going? “

“ugh. Bloody awful I forgot how much I hated this report. One body reported by Rock Arshwood with the comment he “just found ‘erm like that” as if it wasn’t bleeding obvious they had overdosed on the Pixie dust he sold them. I swear its the fourth one this year, but no one can prove anything past circumstance because they are all definitively unintentional overdoses. 

“Hermione grimaced “ Is that the dealer that works out of the Crooked wand?” 

“Yeah. Bloody idiot. He probably changed up suppliers and the stuff he’s getting now is better quality, leading to some of the regulars overdosing. I think this makes six dead total”.

Hermione glanced at him in utter shock. 

“Repeat that”

“There was another overdose on Pixie dust called in by the dealer being a bleeding idiot”

“No, not that. The part about how many”

“oh. It’s the fourth one this year. Six total”

“How do you know that?”

“I am in charge of at least some of the filing, and the DMLE keeps opening cases against Arshwood that get nowhere. Finnigan and I aren’t officially on the case but I’ve lent help going over things a few times. “

Hermione quickly pulled out a filing cabinet connected to her work desk. 

“Tell me the dates of the previous cases”. 

“Uh. two in early January, one in March? I think there were two the previous year as well, it's why it got on our radar. Not really an unspeakable matter”

Hermione frantically thumbed through death files, finding two overdoes January 3 and 12 respectively, and one March 16. The first file indicated previous overdoses in December both at the Broken wand tavern”

“This just doesn’t make sense”

“The cases against Arshwood? Yeah I know, I think Williamson has been trying to hit him on tax evasion or something to get him off the streets but hasn’t found anything solid yet”. 

“no. Not that. That you know about cases. You shouldn’t know this”

“I’m an Auror Granger”

“Not here you aren’t. This shouldn’t be the same”

“Why not? “

“Because. It. Just. Doesn’t. Make. Sense. There are seven documented incidents of time travel that definitively caused timeline divergences. Three unconfirmed but suspected incidents of people landing in alternative universes. In all of those cases, all of the books and theories, there was a major commonality. Once things changed, everything else began to change at a prodigious rate. Within weeks, a month at the most.”

“yes. We’ve been over this. Which is why Potters not a poof, Theodore Knott is a thriving businessman instead of some lowly black market distributer, and I’m living at sodding Malfoy Manor. “

“No. Malfoy. Within each of those cases by the end of a year things had changed so drastically it’s almost not recognizable. There are always indicators of divergences. And right now, we are missing a massive indicator. The birth and death rates. All ten of the cases have shown those to statistics diverged almost instantaneously. It’s what the butterfly effect is such a popular theory. People get born and die differently when things are messed with. I need to know any cases you’ve had, we need to see if the same people are dying at the same times. “

Draco wasn’t sure it was a good thing he was a decent Auror with an excellent memory for his cases. He had been talking over his previous cases for hours. 

Hermione was growing more and more flummoxed as they continued. By dinner they had confirmed that while not all of his cases were the same, every death he knew about was. Or at least was close. Not one single person who had died in his timeline that he knew about was living, or had lived passed their “alternate” deaths. 

She had also confirmed that it was exceedingly unlikely this was some sort of ruse from Malfoy, he just knew way too much about things he literally couldn’t know if he weren’t a fully qualified auror. A lot of the things he knew were things he couldn’t know if he weren’t the auror on the case. 

She sat chewing her lip in deep concentration before letting out an exclamation. 

“Babies! We need to talk about babies!”

Draco startled upright, staring at her befuddled. It took him a second to realize she was definitely not offering to bear his children. He still had no idea where she was going with it though. 

“What about them?” He asked wearily. 

“Deaths have been unfailingly similar, what about births. “

That was a topic he was a lot less sure on.   
Within twenty minutes granger was getting exasperated. 

“You seriously can’t tell me anything about Tracey Davis’s child, she was a Slytherin in our year!”

“It might have been a boy? “ 

“How are you even serious right now?”

“We weren’t friends, I didn’t really care. I’m not even sure what bloke she ended up with. Besides they aren’t pureblood so I didn’t have to send a note or anything” 

“Okay what about Bill and Fleurs baby, they are pureblood”

“oh. yeah. They had a baby. “

“Well, yes. But what do you know about it. Boy, girl? Hair color? “

“It was a Weasley spawn, I assumed there would be a lot of them and didn’t pay attention. Pretty sure they were on their second though”

“Gahh. Your absolutely ridiculous, you know that? How can you know so little about the next generation. ?”

“Well Sorry, the only child I ever interact with is Edward, and thats only because he’s a Black.” 

“Teddy? “

“Don’t be ridiculous, that’s an undignified name and he’s a Black by blood. “ 

“Do people really call him Edward?”

Draco sniffed pushing his nose into the air “well I certainly do”

“Oh my God, your such a snob”

“I have class, that doesn’t make me a snob”

“You totally are. Posh git”  
“Plebeian Know-it- all”

“Plebeian, really? You’re just proving my point!”

“Agree to disagree”

Hermione was still smiling to herself as he left for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione’s Monday morning was not going well. 

“Ron. For the last time, I’m working. “

“ Don’t be like that ‘Mione, you are always working. Come round my place tonight yeah? It’s been to long”

“To long since what Ron, we saw each other on Saturday”

“To long since, ya know”

“Honestly will you hush”

“is there something you wish to share Miss Granger”

“No sir. “ she said as her cheeks heated up. She pressed her lips together in annoyance, eyes fixed on Roberts as he continued passing out assignments. 

She had no idea what was going on with Ron, she swore he had never been quite this annoying before. 

By the end of the meeting she was reaching the end of her rope so she made a hasty retreat, dodging Rons attempt at, well, whatever it was he was trying to accomplish. She’s pretty sure he wasn’t intentionally trying to annoy her but what did he really expect? That she would sit around making a date with him in the middle of work hours? 

Getting to her desk she found things weren’t much better. For some reason Harry had filed all of his previous cases last week wrong, and it ended up on her desk because he had somehow flagged her in every. single. one. Now even though most were clearly not unspeakable cases she technically had to review each one before knocking it back. 

By the time she had made it back to her flat Malfoy was already there, eating a sandwich over her book! 

“Have some respect for other peoples belongings Malfoy, honestly a sandwich?”

Instead of taking offense, or sniping back at him he looked at her for a long moment before breaking into a smirk. 

“I know that look, That good of a day huh? What was it this time, did someone throw out evidence?”

Hermione sighed heavily. 

“No. Honestly sometimes I think the Auror department is just trying to annoy me though. Did you realize when you graduated the Auror training program that your superior might try to eat the treacle tart suspected of being dosed with illegal love potions? Or forget they were at an active crime scene and cast an air freshening charm?”

Malfoy let out a brief chuckle, before he turned to his sandwich with a thoughtful expression. 

“The day I graduated the Auror department was amazing. I finally had hope for a future, probably for the first time since fifth year. I had been so relieved when I was accepted into the program because it was that or sit back on my coffers never making a difference in the world. Which after the war I desperately wanted to do, even if I would never had told anyone that. During training I was so caught up in trying to be the best, to prove I should be there. It wasn’t until graduation day that I felt I might actually have the opportunity to fix things, to be more than my father. “

Hermione's smile was warm, proud even. “I’m glad you found that”

“Yes, well then on my second day one of the senior Auror who I was supposed to be shadowing picked up an evidence bag, that was clearly labeled as “possible illegal port-key” and opened it because it was a chocolate frog card he’d been looking for. He spent five days on an abandoned island in the Galapagos before we tracked him down. “

Tuesday and Wednesday passed in a similar manner, with Hermione pretending she wasn’t getting more and more stressed on the deadline. None of the research she did changed the facts. Somehow Malfoy was definitely remembering a different world, with more then enough evidence to back up the fact he had lived in that different world. He just knew too much for it to be an elaborate ruse. Some of the knowledge he had would have been literally impossible to acquire without working for the DMLE due to security spells. 

Yet no theories they had found made sense. Time travel had been completely discarded. As had most of the theories on alternate universes she could find. There were changes, but it came back to those indicators. Deaths and births were the same. Laws, rules, buildings. Even Auror specific knowledge like call signs, procedures, etc. were the same. Not just legacy ones but things developed since the war, heck things developed a few months before. If this was an alternate universe the only explanation would be the Mandela effect. 

And that in itself had some major flaws. Such as Malfoy should not be the only one with memories of differences. 

Malfoy had left her flat Wednesday night clearly as unhappy with their progress as she was. He let her know he’d be busy with his mother until dinner, but he’d bring takeaway. Hopefully taking a break would give them fresh eyes. 

Hermione had been in her office, trudging through the piles of forensic evidence she needed to codify for the DMLE. It annoyed her how little any of it had to do with her official work duties, but she figured the reason her position had been made permanent was due at least in part because she could perform spells that the Auror’s couldn’t (or refused to ). 

She was surprised when lunch hour came upon her and none other than Harry Potter knocked on her door, with a sheepish expression. 

“I’ve got an extended lunch break and haven’t seen you much this week. Care to grab some paninis at that little cafe? I’ve missed you, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages”

“The one in muggle London? “

“Where else” he grinned cheekily. 

“Yes, Harry of course, I was due for a lunch break anyways”

“No half day today? “

“It wasn’t half days before, I was just splitting time between my flat and the museum. But no, that reports done, I’ll be turning it in today”

“Yeah, well I wish I had half days. Work is exhausting.” He sighed heavily. 

“Come on, let’s go get lunch and you can tell me all about it. You are right, it has been too long”. 

By the time they had ordered and sat down it was clear that Harry had relaxed a bit, though he still seemed worn down. 

“Rough week huh? Maybe its Karma for misfiling all of last weeks cases “ 

“Yeah, sorry again about that Hermione. I have no idea how I messed that up”

“I was just kidding Harry, tell me what’s bothering you” 

“Bothering me? Nothings bothering me” He quickly insisted. 

“ Harry I’ve known you since I was 11. You're the closest thing I have to family left, unless you count sending holiday cards to my parents under the pretense of being their third cousin. “ 

He sighed. “Works just been rough, I forget why I ever wanted to become an Auror. I’ve been exhausted and then I get home and Ginny’s upset that I’m too worn out. It’s just, I don’t know. It is probably nothing, the last few weeks have just been rough.”

“It’s just what? You know you can always talk to me, tell me how you feel. I’m not going to judge you ?”

“Its just. I love her but it doesn’t seem like enough. She wants to travel, go to parties, interview for witch weekly articles. It just does’t feel right. We got in a big fight about it, and now she keeps talking about having a baby like that would fix everything”

“Thats a horrible idea!”

“Don’t worry Hermione I know. I would never want a child to grow up in a home with a lot of tension. And with how works been doing, it isn’t an option. It’s just a little fight though right? Married couples argue. “

“Well. I’m not really the best at relationship advice, am I ? “

“Are things not going well with ron? “

Hermione started, honestly confused. For a moment she forgot she was even dating him. 

“No things are fine as always, I just mean I’m not married. “

“Sometimes I wonder why we ever did. You know, like I think back on our Wedding and I can’t even remember what I was feeling when I married her. And I know I love her but it just feels like it's not enough.” 

Hermione tried to think back to how he looked on his wedding day. 

With a surprise she realized she couldn’t remember how she felt either. 

She could distinctly remember the opulent rose centerpieces and Ginny’s muggle made dress that had thrown Molly into a fit. She could remember Georges sad smile as he spiked the punch with a potion to turn Harry’s mop of black hair Weasley red “welcoming him to the family”. Yet when she tried to concentrate on how she felt, there was no emotions attached to the memories. 

Harry had started to shuffle in his seat, uncomfortable, as Hermione looked at him with a startling thought. 

“Harry. Tell me how your feelings the day you graduated the Auror academy. “

“‘Mione?” 

“It’s probably nothing, but Harry please. Humor me“

“Uh. “ he paused a moment thinking back “I don’t know it didn’t really seem like that important. I must have been happy yeah? “

“ Okay. How about your honeymoon”

Harry blushed, “really”

“Really. Think back on your honeymoon. What did you feel? “

“I. Well, I don’t think I felt any particular way about it. “

Her face must have shown her rising concern as he immediately began defending himself “It’s not that I’m unfeeling I swear. Like I’m happy when George pulls pranks, I love being around the Weasley family. I was glad you excepted my lunch invite. I“

“NO. of course I don’t think your unfeeling. I was just sidetracked, abut a thought I had. I didn’t mean to worry you”

“Are you okay? Does this have something to do with your weird work habits this week? If you need help Hermione….“

“No. It’s fine, everything’s fine. I was just. Can I ask you some random questions and you just trust that everything is okay and I’d tell you if I needed help ? “

“Would you tell me if there was something wrong? “

“Can you please just trust me? “

Harry sighed, still eyeing her with worry but nodded his head. 

“Of course, I trust you with my life”. 

“Alright. Uh. Lets start with your case last month…”

The conversation had gone on for a good hour. The more Harry spoke, the more solid Hermione’s thought became. And it was not a good thought. “

By the time Harry had gone back to the office she had headed to her flat. She called up a few dozen books she knew she had, but had never even looked at during their research. 

It was nearing dinner time when she set down her book “Muggles interpretation of Magical creatures: Myths and misrepresentation”. 

She was pacing, her wand clutched tightly in her hand, her hair static with nerves. 

Her floo activated and Malfoy stepped through, a bag of Thai take away in his hands. 

“Petrificus Totalus. Everte Statüm” he was thrown back into the chair near her fireplace. 

“incarcerous. “ She grabbed his wand, then released the body bind. 

“Granger what the Hell”

Hermione grabbed a vile of the Veritasium, biting her lip as she looked at Malfoy. 

“I’m sorry about this Malfoy, but I can’t. It’s my job, I have to make sure”

“Whatever Granger”. He spit venomously. “Dose me and lets get on with this”


End file.
